I think that just about everybody has played the game of limbo. Two people grab a stick and all the others slowly make their way under the stick. To play, simply bend backwards while letting nothing touch the floor but your feet, and of course, don't touch the stick. The object is to see how low the stick can get while someone can still make their way underneath it. The word limbo originated in the 1950’s on the Caribbean island of Trinidad and appropriately means, limber. Although the word originated in Trinidad, the dance itself originated in Africa, a funeral dance symbolizing the move through life. By the way, the world’s record for the lowest limbo? Dennis Walston successfully navigated under a 6” limbo stick in 1991. That’s pretty low.
The fun thing about playing limbo with a large group is after everybody passes under the stick, it gets moved ever lower. Everybody oohs and aahs as they size up the new challenge. The ultimate goal? How low can you go? But today we’re going to borrow that phrase and apply it to Judges chapter 18. Yes, we’re going to limbo through a chapter of the Bible. Yet in a very sad way, we’ll see that God’s people can go pretty low when they stray from Him.
Recall that God had a very simple set of instructions for the 12 tribes of Israel as they inhabited the Promised Land. Clear the land of all the people that inhabited it and destroy all the false gods and idols that those peoples worshiped. Sounds pretty simple, right? Clear out the land, remove all temptations to follow other gods and then solely worship the one true God. But all 12 tribes failed to clear their land and as a result, idols, false gods, temples, and wild religious practices remained rampant in the land. And in a few generations we see God’s people fall into exactly what He said they would, idol worship. And today in Judges 18 we will see that as human hearts fall into idol worship and forsake Almighty God, they can go very, very low.
We touched on Micah yesterday and his weird relationship with his mother. He was rewarded with some of the same money he stole from his mom and with it he fashioned several metal gods for himself. And he built a shrine to put his gods on. And then in a difficult passage to swallow, he hires a priest to manage his new “personal temple.”
A priest for hire. A pastor for pay. A reverend for reward. A preacher that goes to the highest bidder. Although there’s much to turn the spiritual stomach in this chapter, this one for me, takes the cake. When a man calls himself a man of God merely to make a buck. It’s a job, a living, an occupation, a 9-5. And folks, unfortunately, the world today is full of pastors that simply pull a paycheck to manage a temple. Levi was the priestly tribe and this particular Levite is wandering around looking for a priest job when he encounters Micah. The exchange sounds like it should happen on a used car lot.
“And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” Judges 17:10-13
Just as young kids can play shop, Micah is playing church. He has created for himself a few gods, fashioned and carved out of metal. He built a shrine in his home to hold his gods. And now he has hired himself a real bonafide Levite to be his priest. And in yet another gut wrenching part, Micah even has the audacity to ordain his new priest himself. Folks this is getting pretty low on the limbo scale. We witness a human heart that is in the process of completely forgetting and erasing Almighty God in favor of worshiping his own pride. And yes, this style of worship still happens today all over this big blue planet.
But the problem with a priest for hire is that he’s just like a hound dog following a scent. He’ll follow the money wherever it leads. Micah’s village is invaded by the tribe of Dan and they break into Micah’s house and proceed to not only steal his gods but his priest.
“And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” And they said to him, “Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?” And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.” Judges 18:18-20
His heart was glad. He saw dollar signs. Micah was only paying him 10 silver pieces annually to be his personal priest but if he was a priest to an entire tribe of Israel? Surely this would be a huge pay raise. And just like that Micah’s gods and his high priest are gone. His hollow, self-made religion had vanished right before his eyes.
Folks, the lesson here is invaluable to us today. Billions of souls will walk into a place of religion like Micah’s this week. There are idols, false gods and men and women that are their to grab a paycheck for being the priest on duty. As most sit under this heresy and later become aware, they will blame the priest, the religion and even God for letting it all happen. But folks, God gives us all we need to discern the truth. He gives us His Holy Word. Do they teach the Word of God where you worship? Do they teach it in it’s entirety? Do they teach it without fear, without favoritism and without compromise? There can be no true worship of Jesus Christ unless His Word is at the epicenter of it all. Does your preacher or pastor believe that the Word of God is the epicenter of all worship? Does He believe that the Word of God is inerrant, all powerful and living and active in the lives of Christ followers? You see, if you are led astray by a pastor for hire that is merely manning a temple for money, it’s not his fault but yours. You must be able to discern if where you are worshiping is truly honoring and praising Jesus in a way that glorifies Him. And you do that by knowing what God’s Word says.
When left to it’s own devices, for long enough, the human heart can go much lower than Dennis Walston’s world record limbo. Today, we can worship all kinds of false idols. Money, sex, power, relationships, pornography, alcohol, cars, fame, pride, drugs, and yes, even oursleves. You see, at the center of our story, Micah was really worshiping himself. His gods, his idols, his priest, his shrine, his temple, his laws, and his rules. But anything we create is fleeting and will blow away like dust in the wind. We must build our house upon the rock. We must build our lives upon the one thing in this world that will never change. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Rock, Jesus Christ.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25
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